Starbucks swirls, McDonald’s teases, and Uber exec quits

Chronicle Staff and News Services

Published 3:05 pm, Tuesday, April 18, 2017

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The latest television commercials for McDonald’s, featuring actress Mindy Kaling in a bright yellow dress against a red backdrop, do not appear on the company’s YouTube channel, Facebook page or Twitter account. In fact, they don’t mention McDonald’s at all — though they do mention Coca-Cola and Google. The ads are part of the chain’s first unbranded marketing campaign, in which it coyly asks people to search Google for “that place where Coke tastes so good.” In a tweet, Kaling asked to be paid in fries.

I quit

An Uber executive who worked on the self-driving vehicle program has left the firm, the latest in a string of departures. The company confirmed that Sherif Marakby, a vice president who joined the company a year ago, left Monday. Uber said Marakby’s departure was not related to a lawsuit by Waymo, Google’s self-driving vehicle spinoff, which alleges that Uber is using Waymo trade secrets smuggled away by a former employee.

Starbucks is calling a limited-time beverage that changes colors and flavors with a stir of the straw a Unicorn Frappuccino. The chain says the drink, which starts out purple with a sweet and fruity taste, then changes to blue with a tart flavor, was inspired by the trend of unicorn-themed food online. Nadia Cakes, a Minnesota bakery, ships unicorn-sprinkle cupcakes nationwide, for example, and there are more rainbow recipes on Pinterest. The Starbucks concoction will be available through April 23 in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The 12-ounce size has 280 calories.